Proliferative diseases are characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. If the spread is not controlled, it can result in death. Abnormal proliferation, for example, cancer, is caused by both external factors (e.g., tobacco, chemicals, radiation and infectious organisms) and internal factors (inherited mutations, immune system conditions, the mutations that occur from metabolism). These causal factors may act together or in sequence to initiate or promote abnormal proliferation. Cancer is treated by surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormones and immunotherapy. However, there is a need for more effective anti-proliferation drugs.
The ideal anti-proliferation therapy would enable targeted delivery of highly cytotoxic agents to tumor cells and would leave normal cells unaffected. Conventional chemotherapeutic treatment, with maytansine for example, is limited because of the toxic side-effects that arise from effects of the drug on non-cancerous cells. Various approaches to targeted drug delivery have been tried, including the use of conjugates of tumor targeted probes (such as antibodies or growth factors) with toxins such as pseudomonas or diphtheria toxins, which arrest the synthesis of proteins and cells. However, the side effects include reaction of the immune system due to non-human components of the conjugates. Further, the half-life of the drug conjugates were limited due to elimination from the circulation through renal filtration, and schematic degradation, uptake by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), and accumulation in non-targeted organs and tissues.
Another approach uses passive drug carriers such as polymers, liposomes, and polymeric micelles to take advantage of the hyper-permeability of vascular endothelia of tumor tissue. Polymeric drugs and macromolecules accumulate within solid tumors due to an enhanced permeability and retention mechanism. However, barriers of using such targeted deliveries include fast clearance of foreign particles from the blood, and technological hindrances in obtaining highly standardized, pharmaceutically acceptable drug delivery systems with the necessary specificity and selectivity for binding tumor cells.
Thus, a need exists for targeted anti-proliferative compounds.